Tacoma native will take over as head of Biscayne National Park

South Sound native Margaret L. Goodro will continue her 24-year career in south Florida after being named superintendent at Biscayne National Park.

Goodro is the superintendent of Lake Clark National Park and Preserve in Anchorage, Alaska, where she has been since 2013.

She is replacing Brian Carlstrom, who left the position in November to serve as a deputy associate director at the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the National Park Service.

Goodro grew up in Tacoma’s North End, graduating from Wilson High School. She earned a bachelor of science degree in outdoor recreation management from Central Washington University.

I believe that public service is the backbone of America and that recreation fuels the soul of America. I feel it is part of my core and I was meant to be a public servant working towards the greater good as my family has done before me.

Margaret Goodro, Tacoma native and national park superintendent

Her resume includes stints as the chief ranger of visitor and resource protection at Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area and sub-district ranger at North Cascades National Park. She also worked for Whatcom County Parks and Washington State Parks.

Goodro said her desire to work in the public sector was influenced by her family. Her passion for the outdoors was fueled by her father’s family, who were commercial fishermen and loggers in Shelton, and family visits to Mount Rainier and OIympic national parks.

Her mother was a school teacher for 30 years. Her grandfather, John Anderson, was mayor of Tacoma.

“I believe that public service is the backbone of America and that recreation fuels the soul of America. I feel it is part of my core and I was meant to be a public servant working towards the greater good as my family has done before me,” Goodro said.

“Managing federal lands for our nation is a great challenge and a huge honor. I want to see more youth and diversity interested in public service to ensure that we are a strong nation into the future,” she added.

A career that has included land management positions from the southern desert along the border with Mexico to Alaska will help Goodro make the transition to the park south of Miami.

“Each experience gives me an opportunity to serve the public and learn broader land management issues,” she said. “But I have noticed that my wardrobe gets much smaller in the hotter climates.”

She leaves behind an Alaskan park that protects 4 million acres, including the vital watershed for the sockeye fishery in Bristol Bay.

Biscayne National Park protects Biscayne Bay and its offshore reefs. Of the park’s nearly 173,000 acres, 95 percent is water.

“Growing up in the Puget Sound, I love to be near water, so I am very excited about moving to this rare tropical park,” Goodro said.